POS0358-PARE THE IRISH ‘WEAR RED’ FOR VASCULITIS CAMPAIGN – LAUNCHING AN ANNUAL AWARENESS CAMPAIGN IN A RESTRICTED PANDEMIC WORLD.
Authors: S. Skeffington
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2022)

Background Vasculitis is an umbrella term for a number of conditions which are caused by inflammation of the blood vessels. It presently affects approx. 1,000 people in Ireland. Vasculitis is one of the rare rheumatic diseases which are quite often overlooked and unknown as it does not have the recognition that Lupus has created especially with the recent celebrity diagnoses. It is often mistakenly thought to be a heart condition among members of the public due to the vasc sound in the word Vasculitis often being associated with the word vascular. May is Vasculitis Awareness month and the 15 th of May is now celebrated as World Vasculitis Day. Due to being in a pandemic due to Covid 19 we couldn’t plan face to face events for our first awareness day due to restrictions within Ireland and medically enforced restrictions for members of our committee so online was the only viable option. Objectives To celebrate May as Vasculitis month on behalf of those with Vasculitis. To increase awareness among the public of Vasculitis nationally in a memorable way on World Vasculitis Day May 15 th 2021. To create brand awareness of our organisation the Irish Vasculitis Organisation (IVO) and increase our Facebook page membership. Methods We decided to celebrate the month by posting a fact about Vasculitis every second day starting the 1 st of May until the end of the month skipping the 15 th which is when we would run our first Wear Red campaign. We approached a number of famous Irish buildings to light up in red to support the day. We also ran a Facebook campaign which looked for people’s support on the day by wearing red and posting it online on May 15 th encouraging people to wear red and we reposted their efforts on our Facebook page. Results We had six famous Irish buildings across Ireland including the Rock of Cashel and the Dublin Mayor’s residence light up in red to support the day. The Vasculitis facts were interesting to some but the Wear Red campaign was the most successful activity we did. In the 14 days running up to the 15 th we were reaching on average 28 people a day and on the 15 th, we reached an amazing 526 people. We also saw our interactions (comments, shares, likes) go from an average of one a day in the 14 days prior to the campaign to 167 people on the 15 th . The videos with children achieved the most interactions. Unexpectedly the campaign received support from abroad as well with many of the 15% increase in members joining our Facebook page on the 15 th being from the UK The Vasculitis Foundation in the USA heard about one of our light up buildings and they advertised it on the newsletter to their many subscribers. Conclusion The Wear Red campaign was evidence that even in a pandemic while there were severe limitations to people meeting up and having no ability to go out to advertise, a successful awareness campaign could still be run from a volunteer’s kitchen as long as there was careful planning and support. It is also clear to see that while informative facts may be the answer to those who run organisations and have the condition in order to educate the public it is important to recognise that the public learn through fun activities and if you want to generate real interest keeping it light fun and informative is the way to go. References [1] https://www.tuh.ie/News/Tallaght-Hospital-to-take-the-lead-on-first-national-research-study-on-Vasculitis.html Disclosure of Interests None declared